We take loans under the ambit of RBI guidelines, says Ajanta Neog

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI: State Finance Minister Ajanta Neog said that the State Government is taking loans within the ambit of RBI (Reserve Bank of India) guidelines and within its capacity to repay.

Neog rubbished the allegations doing the rounds in the state that the government is implementing various schemes for beneficiaries by taking loans. She said, “The State government is progressing speedily in the right direction. We have been able to increase capital expenditures in the past few years. We spend the bulk of the loans on the development of infrastructure. We won’t make the public stagger under the burden of the loans. We repay the loans with our own resources.”

In 2015–16, the capital expenditure of the State Government was Rs 3,951 crore. It rose to Rs 14,630 crore in 2020-21.

She said, “In 2017–18, we received around Rs 10,000 crore as royalty for crude oil. Revenue from other resources in the state has been on the rise, enabling the government to pay salaries to its employees with its own resources. Our thrust is on uplifting the masses financially. We are paying around Rs 5,000 crore annually to around 27 lakh people under the Orunodoi scheme. The share of central tax in the 2022–23 Union Budget was Rs 29,000 crore. It rose to Rs 39,000 crore in the Union Budget, 2023-24.”

The Finance Minister was conducting marathon meetings with various stakeholders in the run-up to the preparations for the state’s annual Budget. She took part in the pre-budget discussions organized by the economic cell of the state BJP on Wednesday. She discussed the would-be budget with the chiefs of the KAAC (Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council), NCHAC (North Cachar Hill Autonomous Council), and the BTC (Bodoland Territorial Council) in the past 24 hours.

In the 2022–23 state annual budget, the estimated outlay was Rs 1.19 lakh crore with receipts of Rs 22,385 crore from state tax revenue, Rs 6,676 crore from non-tax revenue, Rs 25,544 crore from the share of central tax, Rs 30,412 crore from centrally-sponsored schemes, Rs 10,515 crore from Finance Commission grants, Rs 4,127 crore from other transfers and grants, and Rs 19,353 crore from public debt, etc.

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